


Green Gills

by The_Sickfic_Sideblog



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Food Poisoning, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nausea, Sickfic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-22 01:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9576704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Sickfic_Sideblog/pseuds/The_Sickfic_Sideblog
Summary: Pidge's stomach decides to reject the food goo. Keith decides to be a good friend.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really starting to like the bromance between Pidge and Keith.

****The food goo was hard for everyone to get used to. It was a had a jello-like consistency, but had differing flavors from bite to bite, and sometimes a paladin would get lucky and find something suspended in it. Coran insisted it was edible, and by definition, it was. Nevertheless, the paladins were hesitant.

But after weeks and weeks aboard the castleship, the food good started to grow on them. It became more of a symbol of safety and comfort than a meal. Having the food goo meant they were all together and not under the threat of Zarkon, at least for the moment. It was a welcome part of their new lives in space. For the most part.

When a plate of it was set in front of Pidge, she found that she was the lucky one. Something jiggled in the middle of the goo, something only slightly darker than the goo itself. She picked it out with her spoon.

“Coran, what even is this?”

The ginger Altean looked over. “Oh, that's just some calcified protein! It's what happens when the goo dispenser isn't cleaned out properly and some is left on the nozzle. It's good for you!”

Pidge narrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't sure if protein could actually calcify, but Altean science had proved her wrong before. With a reluctant shrug, she put the spoonful in her mouth. The protein crunched oddly against her teeth as if a fruit gummy had been left out to harden for years. She quickly washed it down with more goo and put it out of her mind.

* * *

The dishes were washed and put away, and everyone went to their individual chambers. Pidge showered off the training sweat from earlier in the day and found herself feeling heavy around her middle. She wondered if Coran had messed with the food goo dispenser again, it wouldn’t have been the first time. Or if Hunk had modified the ingredients. Either way, Pidge felt as though she ate double what she actually had. She changed into comfortable pajamas, popped two Altean antacids that Coran provided the paladins, and sat down at her desk to continue tinkering with Altean tech.

It must’ve been hours before Pidge came up for air. She was so focused in her investigation that she didn’t feel her stomach tossing and turning. When she finally set down her tools, she finally noticed how uneasy she felt. Globs of saliva were hard to choke down, and a strange wave of heat ran down her spine, somehow leaving her shivering. With a few deep breaths, she composed herself, wondering how the nausea had crept up so fast.

“It’s fine,” she muttered to herself, “I’ll feel better in the morning.” She took two more Altean antacids, downed some water, and settled into bed. It took longer than usual to fall asleep while her stomach rolled and bubbled, but silence eventually fell across her mind.

* * *

Before Pidge could fully understand what was happening, she was sitting up in her bed, swallowing hard and pawing at her stomach. Her sheets were drenched in sweat, and her messy hair stuck to the back of her neck and her forehead.

What’s going- Her thoughts were immediately interrupted when her stomach lurched. Her hand shot to her mouth, catching a sickly warning burp from the back of her throat.

Without the help of her glasses, Pidge rushed into the bathroom and her knees hit the tile hard. The food goo came up a bit too easily, slipping up her throat and off her tongue with an unsettlingly high velocity. Her eyes squeezed shut as her stomach clenched, and a seemingly endless stream of sick poured into the toilet bowl.

Eventually, actual vomiting turned into dry heaves, and dry heaves turned into shaky coughs and lingering burps. After a moment or two of hovering, she sat back on her heels and slumped against the back wall. Her right arm stayed over her middle while the left lazily hit the flusher. Just when she thought she was at peace, a voice startled her.

“Done yet?”

Pidge startled, eyes snapping open and neck whipping around to see who spoke. Against all her ideas, the Red Paladin was standing in the doorway. He was holding something out to her, but without her glasses, she couldn’t tell exactly what it was. With a squint, Pidge saw that it was her glasses. She accepted them gratefully and clumsily shoved them on her nose.

“What’re you doing here...?” she asked. Her throat was torn from the bile that burned it. Keith knelt down next to her, having a concerned look that was strangely out of character for him.

“Your room is right next to mine, I heard everything.”

Pidge closed her eyes again, feeling another wave start coming up her throat. She pulled herself back over the toilet bowl and braced herself. The food goo texture was worse coming up than it was going down. In the precious few moments before another vomiting session, she felt calloused hands pulling back her copper hair. She wondered if her hair was actually long enough to warrant being pulled back, but her focus shifted when her stomach retched again.

As Pidge continued to throw up, Keith wondered the same thing. He wasn’t the most experienced in comforting someone as they threw their guts up, but he heard that holding someone’s hair back was helpful. When she finally stopped coughing, he let down her hair and moved his hand to her back. The broken arteries in her face gave him another level of concern. Pidge was always strong and smart, never letting anything hold her back. He had never seen her like this.

“Pidge...?” He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say. She didn’t respond anyway. She simply rested her forehead on her arms and tried to breathe. Keith bit his bottom lip. He really had no idea how to handle this.

With a sigh, the Red Paladin gently patted Pidge’s back, “Let’s get you to bed.”

Pidge nodded. With physical support from Keith, she was ushered to bed. As she settled herself into the sheets, Keith brought a small glass of water to her nightstand and a trash can to the side of her bed.

After standing there for an awkward few seconds, he sat on the edge of her bed and pulled her glasses off her face. He leaned back against the wall and kept a hand on her back. Before she knew it, he was softly snoring and breathing shallowly. In her exhausted mindset as she drifted to sleep, she thought that red and green were very good complementary colors.


End file.
